Aliens: Dead Orbit #1 Review

An old favorite with a new twist.

Dark Horse really came through for this year's Alien Day. The publisher is finally kicking off the eagerly anticipated Aliens: Dead Orbit from the one man creative force that is James Stokoe. Not content to deliver one of the best Godzilla comics ever with The Half-Century War, now Stokoe seems determined to leave a similar mark on the Alien franchise. And based on this first issue, he very might well pull it off.

Dead Orbit covers very familiar ground for Alien fans. The issue opens aboard a remote Weyland-Yutani space station as a haggard, emaciated employee named Wascylewski goes about his business. The seemingly innocuous setting gradually becomes a foreboding, claustrophobic nightmare as Stokoe reveals how Wascylewski found himself in this situation and the very real, very hungry enemy that is his only companion on the station. This is a story very much in the vein of the original Alien, featuring a few, mostly helpless humans fighting for survival against a ruthless Xenomorph.

The premise may not be especially groundbreaking, but this is one case where the execution is everything. Stokoe structures this issue very effectively, opening with a prolonged, eerily silent look at Wascylewski's routine before flashing back several days to a time when the station still had a full complement of crew members. Stokoe is one of the best in the industry when it comes to using silence as a storytelling device. He quickly and capably establishes the mood for this tale, steadily ramping up the tension on every page until the explosive final few issues. Alien comics are rarely able to match the original film in terms of fear factor, but Stokoe doesn't have that problem.

Stokoe also paints a very captivating, distinctive vision of the Alien universe. Dead Orbit captures the grungy, industrial aesthetic of the films as well as any comic Dark Horse has published. The sheer amount of detail Stokoe pours into each page is astounding. His ships and tech designs look cobbled together from thousands of smaller pieces. But beyond the intricate line-work, Stokoe's art impresses with its inspired framing choices and its ability to conjure such a palpable sense of dread. Stokoe even letters this issue himself, which allows him to work various sound effects and computer displays directly into his art and use sound (when it does come into play) to its fullest effect.

Verdict

Even if Alien: Covenant fails to live up to its promise, at least fans of the franchise are getting one worthwhile Alien story this spring. Dead Orbit is an excellent throwback to the original film, focusing on claustrophobic horror and dread rather than action and spectacle. This is what happens when you give a talented storyteller the reins of a beloved franchise and simply let them go wild on the page.